Ice-cream freezer and method of changing the temperature of fluids



@@., T169 H9240 LSOL@ T. L. VALERRUS ICE'CREAM FREEZER AND METHOD OFCHANGING THE TEMPERATURE OF FLUIDS Original Filed March 2 2, 1920Whip/7@ L WM5/da;

Patented Dec. 16, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE L. VALERIUS, OF FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T THECREAMERY PACKAGE MFG. COMPANY, OF

TION 0F ILLINOIS.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA- ICE-CREAM FREEZER AND METHOD 0F CHANGINGTHE' TEMPERATURE 0F FLUIDS.

Application led March 22, 1920, Serial. No. 367,646. Renewed May 23,1924.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Beit known that I, T HEoDoRE L. VALE- RiUs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Fort Atkinson, in the county of J eferson ,and Stateof Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-CreamfFreezers and Methods of Changing the Temperature of Fluids, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My `invention relates to the handling of fluids and more particularly'totemperaturec'hanging devices employed in handling fluid dairy productssuch as milk and the like.

One object of my invention is to devise` an improved method ofcirculating a Huid while-its temperature is being changed yand toprovide means for carrying out the method.

The particular melans I .have selected to illustrate my improved methodembodies structures'accomplishing the other purposes of my inventionwhich are to provide an improved means for em'ulsifying or mixing airwith the fluid, improved means for injecting or'inserting fruit orflavoring maferial, and an improved arrangement for -the beater and theshell surrounding permitting the operator to observe'the condition ofthe fluid.

Another object-1s to providean ice cream lfreezerrinto which the fluidmix may be'l freely poured `without `possibility that in entering itwill encounter some stationary part which will splash a portion of itout of the aperture through which it is entering.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent asthe description proceeds.

In the-accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a central section through anice cream freezer in which the principles of my invention have beenembodied. Fig. 2 is an end l view lof t e same. F ig. 3 is a perspectiveview o two fof the beater blades. Fig. 4 is a detailview of one of thesweep bars.

In the embodiment of my lnvention selectv.ed for illustration the {iuidreceptacle or forced by a ring 13 the upper portion of front end by adetachable head 12. Ad-` which is apertured at 14 to allow the mixtureto be poured into the freezer. lThe ring 13 and rear closure 11 haveannular flanges adapted 'to support suitable cooling means, which, asthey forin no part of my present invention, have not been illustrated.

Meansare provided for agitating or circulating the fluid in the. freezercylinder, comprising a central beater, the shaft 15 of which isrotatably supported at its ends in a sleeve 16, and a boss 17,respectively. A plurality fof blades 18 Iare carried by the shaft 15each blade comprising an inner portion 19 set at an angle so as to feedthe material longitudinally of the shaft 'and an outer portion 20 set ata reverse angle so as to 'feed material in the opposite dlrection.

A flat portion 21 unites the inner end of the outer portion 2O to theouter end of the inner portion 19, the entireblade being preferably onevintegral piece. The series of blades 18 extends longitudinally from nearthe rear, stopping a substantial distance back from the removable headl12, leaving a space the greater part of which is subject to theagitation produced by a pair of blades 22 yblades 22 and supporte-d attheir -front'ends by another spider 26. On the other two arms of thespider, sweep bars 27 and 2S are mounted each having a plurality ofinclined. vanes 29 adapted to move near the outside of the cylinder andshift the material longitudinally. l Any suitable means may be provided.for rotating the shaft 15 and the sleeve 16 simultaneously. in oppositedirections. In use the parts are driven so that the sweep bars 27 and 28move material toward the front end of the freezer. The front ends of thesweep bars carry long vanes 30 having in this instancethe same pitch asvanes 29 and adapted to feed the material for- Ward and terminating justshort of theextreme end of the cylindrical portion of the cylinder.Their ends pass by the discharge opening 31 and in emptying the cylinderfacilitate the discharge of material through said opening. The shaft 15,being driven in the opposite direction, actuates the front blades 22 sothat they and the `outer portions 20 of the blades 18 move materialtoward the rear, While the inner portions 19 of the blades 18 Will movematerial toward the front. It will `be appar-v ent that When thecylinder is approximately full of material there will be a central coreof material moving toward the front,- an annular body of materialoutside the central core moving toward the rear, and'another annularbody o f material moving vtoward the front underf the action of thesweep bars 27 and 28. n

This double circulation is particularly advantageous in rapidly bringingall parts of the mixture to uniform temperatureV and maintainingthemthus While the.; temperaf ture is being changed. The portion of thef mixture which has moved along the outer shell and suffered a change oftemperature has its direction of motion reversedat the front end and atf that point islgmixedquickly with a substantial portion; ma-

terial coming to the front end :along-.fthe

central core so that the intermediate l-b'o'd'y moving toward the rearWill be of 'a fairlyj.vk uniform temperature and after beingthorf`oughly mixed Will arrive at the ,'rearfv :end

entirely uniform in temperature, to be again subdivided. During itspassage from lthe rear to the front it is practically in ipossiblev tocool thev outside layer of materia-l to more than a certain depthdepending on the speed with which 'the material 'moves 1 and theefficiency of the temperature changing means outside. the cylinder andit is therefore useless` to move a thicker layer than can be cooledwhich would turn around on reaching the front end and move back towardthe rear in two layers, one cold'and one warm, the cold layer of whichwould lie along the axis and Would a second time be carried to theoutside uponv reaching be carried back in bubbles toward the rear end-of the machine, the bubbles being broken up by the blades 18 andbecoming mixed with the material.

A `slot 33 extending from side to side of the inletl 32 `is provided inthe rear Wall of 'the inlet and performs a triple function.

After the material inside has swelled to the level of the slot, acontinuous flow through the slot Will take place which will mingle Withany fruit placed in the inlet passage and carry it quick y down into thecylinder. The inception of this iioW may be readily observed by theoperator and Will indicate the volume of the material in the cylinder,and the material flowing may also vbe readily observed or evenl sampledto determine its texture, consistency, and other properties, vwhich asthe-process nears completion can'be conveniently Watched so as to emptythe freezer at the proper time. Any suitable covering'device orlid 34may.

.be pivoted.- at 34 and normallyl cover the passageway 32. ,It will benoted that vanes 30 ifl they "happen tobe directly under the mix opening14 when the mix is poured in, will lie vern tical and therefore will nottend to deflect or splash a portion of the mix back out of the inlet(The only object the material ovvingjthroughthe inlet can strike againstso as to'splas'h in all directions would bethe shaftl, and blades 22 incase they happen. 'l

to fbei approximatel horizontal. This,

splashingy would occur down near the cnterv 'of thacylinder where itwould be desirablev ratherithanothcrwise as it lcould hardly splashbackl out ofthe inlet andvvould churn `the materia'lisOmeWhat, causingit-to absorb air, and assisting in the Jprocess of emulsifying v v ,t

- While *I* have illustrated anddescribed in detail 'al preferredembodimentof my invention', it 'should be clearly understood that thedisclosure is merely for purposes of illustration and that manymodifications and variations will -naturally occur to thosev yskilled inthe art. I aim in the subjoined claims to cover all-such legitimatevariations yand modifications.

I claim as my invention: 1. The herein described culating a fluidcomprising ymoving a central core and an outer envelopeparallel toeachother in the same vdirection and return- `ing the fluid in theopposite direction in an annular mass movingbetiveen the centr-.il coreand the outer envelope.' 2. The method of circulating fluid subject totemperature .change, vwhich comprises moving a layer of the fluid acrossa tem perature changing surface, mixing said layer with another portionat the end of its path, and returning the two portions intermingled tothe initial position.

method of cir- 3. The method of circulating a fluid from end to end of areceptacle, comprising dividing the fluid at one end into two portions,moving one of said portions out to form an envelope and the otherportion in to form a core, carrying both said portions to the oppositeend of the container and there reuniting them.

4. The method of circulating a fluid subjected to temperature changecomprising dividing the fluid into two portions, passing one portionvover a temperature changing sur-face and subsequently mingling it withthe other portion.

rThe method ot circulating a fluid subjected to temperature changecomprising dividing the fluid intoi two portions, passing one portionover a temperature changing surface and subsequently mingling it withthe other portion, the portion passed over said temperature changingsurface being of a depth substantially equal to the depth to which thetemperature changing action will penetrate during the lpassage of saidportion over said surface.

o. In a device of the class described, a container, agitating means insaid container, an inlet in said container normally unaffected by saidagitating means, and an inlet in said container acted upon by saidagitating means to draw material into the container.

' 7. In a device of the class described, a container, an inlet near oneend of said container, .agitating means in said container eX- i-enfdingfrom the opposite end to. terminate at a point longitudinally spacedfrom under said inlet, and different agitating means occupying theportion of said container under said inlet` the agitating means undersaid inlet being adapted to agitate' the material without at any timeobstructing said inlet.

8. In a device of the class described, a receptacle, an inlet passagewayopening into said receptacle a substantial distance below the upperportion thereof, and agitating means within said receptacle adapted toperiodically draw material into said receptacle through the end of saidpassageway and to move said material into the body of other materialbeing agitated in said receptacle.

9. In a device of the class described, a receptacle, an inlet passagewayopening into said receptacle a substantial distance below the upperportion thereof, and agitating means within said receptacle operating inproximity to-said opening and adapted to4 periodically draw materialinto said receptacle through said passageway with suiicient torce toenti-ap air in the material within the receptacle.

10. In a device of the class described, a receptacle, an inletpassageway extending downward a substantial distance below the upperportion of said receptacle, means tacle being adjacent one of saidcarriers and f the other end being spaced longitudinally from the othercarrier, and centrally located means adjacent the spaced end of saidreceptacle adapted to move material away from said end.

12. In a device of the class described, a pair of longitudinally spacedrotatable carriers, agitating means supported by said carriers, areceptacle enclosing said carriers and agitating means, one end of saidreceptacle being adjacent one ot' said carriers and the other end being`spaced longitudinally from the other carrier, and means adjacent y thespaced end of said receptacle adapted to move material centrally locatedaway from said end and to move material peripherally located toward saidend.

13. In a device of the class described, a receptacle, a longitudinallyextending member rotatable therein, blades carried by said member, theouter portion of said blades beting adapted to move material in onedirection from en d to end of the receptacle, and the inner portions ofsaid blades adjacent said member being adapted to move material in theopposite direction.

14. In a' device of the class described, a receptacle, outer agitatingmeans therein adapted to move material adjacent the wall of saidreceptacle longitudinally in one direction, and inner agitatingmeansadapted to move a central core of material in the samelongitudinaldirection and an intermediate portion of material between said core andthe outer portion Min the opposite direction.

15. In a device of thev class described, a receptacle, agitating meansin said receptacle adapted to move material adjacent the periphery' ofsaid receptacle longitudinally in one direction, central agitating meansadjacent one end of said receptacle adapted to move material in theopposite direction and central agitating means 'occupying substantiallythe remainder of the longitudinal extent of said receptacle adapted tomove a central core oflmaterial in the original drection and an envelopesurrounding said central core in the opposite direction.

,16. In a device of the class described, a sweep'l bar having a spacedseries of projecting blades pitched to move material loni' tendingitudinally and a blade at one end of said Sweep bar having a similarpitch and eX- beyond the end of said bar.

17. n ice cream freezer having, in combination, a freezer cylinder, aninlet mainly communicating with said cylinder` at a point below theuppermost portion of said cylinder, and a passageway from said cylinderto said inlet above the level of the main communication.

18. A freezer having, ink combination, a cylinder, an inletcommunicating at its lower end with said cylinder below the upperlevelof said cylinder, a passageway above the lower end of said inlet, andmeans for maintaining the level of material in said inlet below thelevel of said passageway.

19. A freezerv having, in combination, a receptacle, an inlet passagecommunicating with said receptacle at two spaced points, and means formaintaining a circulation between said inlet passage and saidreceptacle, said inlet passage being readily accessible.

20. In a freezer, an enclosed receptacle,

a passage way adjacent one end of said receptacle, and meansv forcontinuoL-isly circulating a small portion of the contents of saidreceptacle into and out of said passageway whereby the condition of thecontents of said receptacle mayl be readily ascertained.

21. A freezer having, in combination, a cylinder, an inlet communicatingwith said cylinder below the upper level thereof, an auxiliary passageway establishing communication between said inlet and said cyl- 22. Afreezer having, in combination, a i

receptacle, one end wall of said receptacle having an outlet flush Withthe bottom of said lreceptacle and agitating means in said receptacleincluding inclined blades adapted to sweep over the bottom of saidreceptacle, the end ones of said blades being extended to pass saidoutlet and assist in emptying said receptacle.

23. A freezer having, in combination, a cylinder, scraping and agitatingmeans extending from one end of said cylinder throughout a portion ofthe length-thereof, agitatlng means moving adjacent the periphery ofsaid cylinder and extending through the remainder of the length thereof,and an outlet flush with the bottom of said cylinder in proximity to thepath ot said last named agitating means, said lastv named agitatingmeans tending to move material longitudinally toward said outlet.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

THEODORE L. VALERIUS.

